'Star Wars': Besides Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, here are the five greatest Sith Lords of all time

With Emperor Palpatine making his return in the upcoming movie, 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker', we decided to take a look at some of the greatest Sith Lords from across time, not including Palpatine himself or his apprentice Darth Vader.
PUBLISHED DEC 18, 2019
Ian McDiarmid as Darth Sidious in 'Star Wars' Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith (IMDb)
Ian McDiarmid as Darth Sidious in 'Star Wars' Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith (IMDb)

Since the very beginning, 'Star Wars' has been the story of the heroic Jedi fighting against the vile Sith.The former have been cast as saintly knights, protecting the weak and humbling the strong, while the latter are usually shown as murderers and dictators without morality or conscience.

Make no mistake, the Sith are the villains of this story without a doubt. Though that said, if George Lucas wanted us to hate the Sith, he shouldn't have made them so cool. 

With Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) making his return in the upcoming movie 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker', we decided to take a look at some of the greatest Sith Lords from across time, not including Palpatine himself or his apprentice Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).

Just so we're clear, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) haven't been confirmed as Sith even though they are strong in the dark side of the Force so they're not on this list either. So without further ado, here are 5 of the greatest Sith Lords across time:

5. Darth Bane

This Sith Lord created the Rule of Two, which states that there can only be one Sith Master and one Apprentice at any given point, Darth Bane has had a massive impact on the history of the Sith. In a way, Darth Sidious's victory was only possible because of the foundations laid by Darth Bane and though he may have been defeated, Bane did manage to hurt the Jedi like a few others before him.

4. Darth Plagueis

Plagueis was the greatest scholar produced by the Sith, a Dark Lord with the power to cheat death and create new life. As the master of Darth Sidious, Plagueis is undoubtedly one of the greatest Sith Lords of all time and the only reason he doesn't rank higher on this list is because there have been others whose fighting skills and sheer power have allowed them to create far greater destruction than the wise old scholar. 



 

3. Darth Revan

The main character of the video gamem 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic', Revan was an influential Jedi who disobeyed the Jedi Council and led his own faction to oppose the Mandalorians when the eternally helmeted warriors started invading star systems on the Outer Rim of the galaxy. Revan was a powerful figure both as a Jedi and as a Sith, not to mention the fact that he was definitely the coolest looking fighter on either side. 

2. Darth Vitiate

Born as the illegitimate son of a Sith Lord, darkness was in Vitiate's very veins right from birth. At the age of 10, he killed his father with a single thought. By stealing the powers of other Sith Lords and adding them to his own, Vitiate became one of the most powerful beings in the history of 'Star Wars' creating two separate empires and influencing galactic affairs for nearly two thousand years.   

1. Exar Kun

An almost mythical figure from the 'Star Wars Legends' continuity, Exar Kun is the one being who has managed to cement a claim to the title of "the greatest Dark Lord of the Sith". His existence in the current continuity is still unclear but in 'Legends', he was a very talented Jedi scholar with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, which unfortunately led him to embrace the dark side of the Force. 

With the power to enslave minds and create monstrous beasts, Exar Kun unleashed a long period of darkness on the galaxy. His mastery of Sith magic was only exceeded by his skill at wielding lightsabers in combat. Few warriors could best him when he was alive. Even fewer have since arisen who could even hope to achieve his level of power. And that is why Exar Kun is the greatest Sith Lord of all.  

'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' will arrive in theaters on December 20.

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